3 ms·

That comes with a major assumption that switching ISPs is an option. Most people get to choose between their cable company, or a fleet of ill-trained pigeons

by nikanj 3y ago

voyagerfan5761 3y ago
As an example, the options where I am right now (thankfully temporary) are: - $55/mo. 3 Mbps DSL - $80/mo. 300 Mbps cable (or even more expensive, faster cable) - $120/mo. 100+ Mbps (if you're lucky) Starlink - A few other heavily restricted, very expensive satellite options (e.g. HughesNet), to which the aforementioned fleet of ill-trained carrier pigeons might be preferable Only one of those is practical and (mostly) reliable for anything remotely approaching something like remote work. Back home it's such a luxury to be able to choose DSL, cable, or fiber. I can only dream that all markets will have an actual choice between Internet service providers someday.
- patmorgan23 3y ago
  Did you look at doing 5g home Internet? There's great coverage in lots of areas.
  - nikanj 3y ago
    At least in Canada 5g comes with $50-for-15GB levels of data cap pricing
patmorgan23 3y ago
Actually most people (in the US) get a choice between the cable company, the LEC, and a 5g carrier, and maybe even StarLink.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  I have a choice between the cable company and sorta Starlink (Starlink isn't actually available in my area yet, and is a nonstarter anyway). There are no other options available to me.
- WorldMaker 3y ago
  Many of the "choices" are false choices. My home, in the downtown of a major city, shows as having two choices for wired broadband, but the phone company's wired broadband option is an old ISDN network grandfathered in to "broadband" that probably shouldn't have been, it is the very bare minimum of "broadband" in 1990s standards. (And the phone company charges the same monthly cost for it as actual high speed broadband options they provide, just to add additional cruelty.)

That comes with a major assumption that switching ISPs is an option. Most people get to choose between their cable company, or a fleet of ill-trained pigeons

by nikanj 3y ago

That comes with a major assumption that switching ISPs is an option. Most people get to choose between their cable company, or a fleet of ill-trained pigeons

voyagerfan5761 3y ago

As an example, the options where I am right now (thankfully temporary) are: - $55/mo. 3 Mbps DSL - $80/mo. 300 Mbps cable (or even more expensive, faster cable) - $120/mo. 100+ Mbps (if you're lucky) Starlink - A few other heavily restricted, very expensive satellite options (e.g. HughesNet), to which the aforementioned fleet of ill-trained carrier pigeons might be preferable Only one of those is practical and (mostly) reliable for anything remotely approaching something like remote work. Back home it's such a luxury to be able to choose DSL, cable, or fiber. I can only dream that all markets will have an actual choice between Internet service providers someday.

patmorgan23 3y ago
Did you look at doing 5g home Internet? There's great coverage in lots of areas.
- nikanj 3y ago
  At least in Canada 5g comes with $50-for-15GB levels of data cap pricing

patmorgan23 3y ago

Actually most people (in the US) get a choice between the cable company, the LEC, and a 5g carrier, and maybe even StarLink.

JohnFen 3y ago
I have a choice between the cable company and sorta Starlink (Starlink isn't actually available in my area yet, and is a nonstarter anyway). There are no other options available to me.
WorldMaker 3y ago
Many of the "choices" are false choices. My home, in the downtown of a major city, shows as having two choices for wired broadband, but the phone company's wired broadband option is an old ISDN network grandfathered in to "broadband" that probably shouldn't have been, it is the very bare minimum of "broadband" in 1990s standards. (And the phone company charges the same monthly cost for it as actual high speed broadband options they provide, just to add additional cruelty.)